The saga has taken an ugly turn as documents whose exposure they tried to prevent (briefly mentioned here) are getting unsealed for all to see. Here are some initial reports (we will probably return to this later and expand):

Ultimately, Microsoft changed its mind and lowered the requirements so that PCs with those chipsets received the “Windows Vista Capable” logo — even though they couldn’t run the glossy Aero Glass interface or other signature Windows Vista features.

What did Intel CEO Paul Otellini say to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on the phone, and what role did that conversation play in Microsoft’s decision to lower the requirements for the “Windows Vista Capable” sticker?

That’s one of the questions raised by the internal documents unsealed today in the class-action lawsuit over the Vista Capable program.

When Microsoft announced it would start the Vista Capable program three months earlier than anticipated, Intel executives, including CEO Paul Otellini, complained to Microsoft because they did not have enough high-end chipsets.

“While I do not want to discuss volume and $$ on email, it is material to our business, and we do not understand Microsoft’s motivation to change the previously agreed upon date,” Intel executive Renee James wrote in an e-mail.

James wrote in another e-mail that Otellini “doesn’t understand why the date changed and we don’t accept it is just ‘labels on boxes.’”

Another filing in the case (read it here) shows that Otellini even called Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to relay his concerns.

It looks as though Intel and Microsoft will have some serious explaining to do in the court of law. This is only getting started and it could prove very costly, maybe more than the XBox fiasco.

Are these the sorts of public figures that a lot people nominate for United States CTO? █

“But this is going to end as all tragedies must, with tears. Steve Ballmer is getting taken for the biggest ride of his life, and one day he’s going to find himself dumped out of the limo by the side of the road wondering what happened.”

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“Steve Ballmer is getting taken for the biggest ride of his life, and one day he’s going to find himself dumped out of the limo by the side of the road wondering what happened.”

I would posit that he knows that and that is his purpose – to ride the company down. Gates saw the writing on the wall and bailed, not wishing to ride the collapsing disaster down to the ground. Enter Ballmer. That’s his job. What has been unexpected is how long and drawn out this fiasco has become with SCO/MS/Novell.

If every netbook owner applies for and receives a proper refund, then we might be able to end the MS nightmare…Save 150 $ / € / £ on your notebook or netboot:

What Else is New

The GNOME Board of Directors works for IBM and/or Microsoft at GitHub; it’s not entirely surprising that despite opposition from some GNOME developers the head of the GNOME Foundation, preceded by people who have since defected to Microsoft, described Dr. Richard Stallman as “reprehensible” and called for him to step down (from his very own thing, never mind the “G” in GNOME standing for GNU)

Principled, opinionated, self-governing individuals aren't any good for corporations looking to not only use their projects but to totally control those projects (copyleft licences such as GPL already make that hard enough for them, so it takes more time for legal 'hacks' such as software patents, "clown computing" and GitHub)

Certain groups that claim to represent the values of "Open Source" are in fact promoting the interests of Microsoft, GitHub etc. (i.e. monopoly or "open" as in a bunch of monopolies like Facebook and Microsoft sharing code snippets/resources over GitHub)

Torvalds and others who are middle-aged (or older) males are often torpedoed using weakly-backed allegations (or insinuations/innuendo) of sexism; that does not seem to matter and won't matter when they treat men the same (or worse)

Linus Torvalds was not fully canceled; nor was Richard Stallman, who's still heading the GNU Project (under conditions specified by those looking to oust him; people who code for Microsoft GitHub and many IBM employees)

General Hugh Shelton, Chairman of the Board of Red Hat, explains (keynote in 2011 Red Hat Summit/JBoss World) that he was introduced to the system as part of a military campaign; it basically helped war, not antiwar

Techrights examines Red Hat’s (IBM’s) hypocritical claims about the Free Software Foundation, founded by Richard Stallman back when IBM was the “big scary monopolist”; IBM employees were prominent among those pushing to oust Stallman from the GNU Project, which he founded, as well

The (in)famous letter against Richard Stallman (RMS), which was signed by many Red Hat employees with Microsoft (GitHub) accounts, doesn’t look particularly good in light of recent revelations/findings; it increasingly looks like IBM simply wants Microsoft-hosted and “permissively” licensed stuff, just like another project it announced yesterday and another that it promoted yesterday

One might not expect this from a so-called 'charity'; the Gates Foundation's critics are often met with unprecedented aggression, threats and retribution, which make one wonder if it's really a charity or a greedy cult of personalities (Bill and Melinda)

The assault on the media by Bill Gates is a subject not often explored by the media (maybe because a lot of it is already bribed by him); but we're beginning to gather new and important evidence that explains how critics are muzzled (even fired) and critical pieces spiked, never to see the light of day anywhere

Microsoft buying GitHub does not demonstrate that Microsoft loves Open Source (GitHub is not Open Source and may never be) but that it loves monopoly and coercion (what GitHub is all about and why it must be rejected)

The European Patent Office (EPO) keeps granting fake patents that cause a lot of real harm (examiners are pressured to play along and participate in this unlawful agenda); nobody is happy except those who profit from needless, frivolous lawsuits

After contributing to the cancellation of Richard Stallman (RMS) based on some falsehoods perpetuated in the media we're seeing the sort of thing one might expect from IBM (more so now that it totally controls Fedora and RHEL)